Shoemaking



w. M. PAGE SHOEMAKING Aug. 9

Filed May 22, 1936 er )Ml/ZZW. awarwgya Patented Aug. 9, 1938 TENT" Omar.

SHOE i ING William M. Page, Marblehead- Mass. Application May 22, 1936, Serial No. 81,221 i 4 Flat, 7

This inventionrelates to the manufacture of shoes. It consists in an improved process of making flexible, single sole shoes of superior quality from the shoe-making standpoint to those heretofore known and is characterized by certain advantages in economy as well as case and emciency in practice. Theinvention is of general application to the broad field of shoe'making, although it has a particular field of use in the in manufacture of slippers, and for illustrative purposes it will be disclosed'in detail in that. application. I i

The invention consists in a novel process of forming the counter portions of shoes without a back seam. In the type of shoe herein selected for purposes of illustration, the counter portion finished shape independently of the forepart of the upper, either by molding upon the heel end of a last or upon a suitably shaped mold. As herein shown the heel pocket comprises an outer seamless portion and a lining portion and these are united in superposed. relation and are adapted to receive in interleaved relation'a blank of stiffening material capable of being temporarily softened and of being then transformed into a stiff resilient condition by drying or cooling. The present invention contemplates the insertion of such a stiffening blank into a heel pocket or counter portion of a shoe, the molding or shaping of the entire margin of the assembled heel pocket upon a last or form, as by a heel seat lasting operation or its equivalent, and then the drying of the molded parts thus converting them perma- 35 nently into a stiff resilient shape conforming accurately to the fine lines-of the last which are desired in the finished shoe. I l

A characteristic of a heel pocket or counter portion manufactured in accordance with the present invention preferably is that the line of juncture between the lining and the 'outer part is brought inside the heel pocket, that is, the fold vertex is formed entirely in the outer portion thereof, and that the upper edge of the stidening 45 blank extends above this line of juncture, or fully into the fold vertex. By this procedure an attractive rolled edge effect is imparted to the heel pocket and its entire body is maintained reliably inthe molded shape imparted to it.

50 These and other features and characteristics of the invention will be best understood and apselected for purposes of illustration and shown in 55 theaccompanying drawing in-whichclear to the foldvertex, that-is to say, the stiffen- Fig. l is a plan view of a heeLpocket, stitched and in flat condition before it is turned,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the counter stiffening blank, v

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary viewshowing the heel a pocket with the stiffening blank assembled therein,

Fig. 4 is a view in cross section of the assembled heel pocket on the line it 01' Fig. 3, I

Fig. '5 isa view in perspective, illustrative of 10 the heel seat lasting step,

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective, showing the lasted heel pocket in position upon alasted shoe,

and t Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation of the com- 15 pleted shoe. V

The heel pocket is prepared by first'stitching together'a lining blank it and adeather or outer blank it while the two blanks are superposed. inside out, in flat condition. Both the blanks it and ii are integral seamless pieces, complete in themselves and having no back seam. The line of marginal stitching it extends about the upper and side edges of the blank which, as shown, are cut in a continuous curved'contour. The heel pocket in this early stage. of its preparation is shown in Fig. 1, and it will be understood that both the lining and outer blanks are now inside out. The stitched heel pocket is now turned right side out, bringing the lining in to the inside and concealing the stitch line by the rolled edge of the leather or outer blank, that is to say, the fold vertex is formed entirely in the material of the outer blank ii and the line of juncture is brought down below the upper rolled edge. The next step of the process is to prepare a stidening blank it from material which may be terial which is capableof being softened by water may be employed. Thermoplastic sheetmaterial is also suitable forpurposes of the present invention. A blank of some such material is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. It is assembled in the heel pocket by being slipped between the outer and lining portions so that its upper edge is carried ing blank extends continuously past the lineof juncture between the lining and the outer portion,

of the heel'pocket asbest' shown in Fig. 4. The

. stiffening blank it may, it desired, be secured in this position by a band of cement i4, previously applied to the upper margin of the outer blank I I as suggested in 3, but under many circumstances it is not necessary so to cement the stiffening blank, since the operation of assembling the heel pocket upon the last has the eflect of securely anchoring the stiffening blank in place.

Having prepared the heel pocket and provided it with its interleaved stiffening blank, the lasting operation. may now be carried out. For this purpose the heel pocket is temporarily opened and softening liquid applied to the stiffening blank or, if a thermoplastic material is used, the stiifening blank is heated to a softened condition. Whatever softening step may be employed, the assembled heel pocket is next positioned upon the heel end of the last I and secured symmetrically thereon by means of a single tack I 5, driven into the heel end of the last. The forepart of the upper, together with the shank piece'20, has already been applied to the last and the margin of the heel pocket extends upwardly about the rear end of the last and shank piece.

The next step in the manufacture of the shoe consists in drawing the forward ends of the heel pocket inwardly by hand over the last bottom and securing them in place by tacks H. In the same 'way the rear end of the upstanding margin is pulled inwardly and secured by a single tack It. It will be understood that the material of the stiffener is soft and pliable during these steps and oflfers no resistance to, the overworking of the margin of the pocket.

Having prepared the shoe as indicated in Fig. 5, it is presented to a heel seat lasting machine, the wipers of which are represented in Fig. 5.

When the shoe has been properly located in the heel band of this machine the wipers are advanced simultaneously, the entire upstanding margin of the heel pocket is wiped into place and while so held imder pressure the heel seat lasting tacks l9 are simultaneously driven, thus conforming the heel pocket accurately and tightly to the, heel end of the last and in this process molding the stiffening material into the desired shape. In the step of subjecting the miperposed margin of the outer and liningportions to pressure with the mulled stiffening blank between them the margins of all three plies are cemented or fused together in a single inturned flange. The heel pocket is then allowed to dry upon the last, whereupon the stiffener istransformed into a stiff condition but now in such molded shape as to impart to the shoe permanently the lines of the last. At the completion of the drying operation, the shoe, including the heel pocket, may be safely removed from the last without danger of being misshapened or distorted.

It will be noted that by the steps explained the heel pocket is not only molded permanently intotheflnalshapedesiredintheshoe but it is at the same time incorporated into the structure is, the operation of shaping the heel pocket may be carried out independently of the shoe and subsequently the molded heel pocket may be incorporated into the shoe. Such procedure is particularly useful in the manufacture of slippers,

whereas it would not apply to the manufacture of ,womens pumps or oxfords.

The invention has been discussed in its application to the manufacture of slippers for purposes of illustration only. It may be usefully applied in the manufacture of womens shoes in general, both in sandals and in shoes where a seamless counter portion is desired.

1. A process of shoemaking which includes the steps of preparing, independently of the shoe, 2. lined heel pocket having a rolled upper edge with the line of juncture between the lining and outer portion located entirely within the heel pocket, inserting a stiffening piece which extends upwardly above said line of juncture in the heel pocket, lasting the heel pocket with the stiffener piece therein to form an inturned heel seat flange, and then drying to stiffen the heel pocket in the shape of the last.

2. A process of shoemaking which includes the steps of preparing, independently of the shoe, a lined heel pocket having its upper and side edges shaped in a continuous curved contour with a rolled edge formed in the outer portion, locating a mulled stiffening piece in the heel pocket with its edge in substantial contact with the vertex of the rolled edge and above the line of juncture between the lining and outer portions, working the free edges of the plies of the heel pocket over the last bottom, and drying to form a stiff integral flange of the fused material.

3. A molded heel pocket for a slipper, comprising an outer portion having an upper rolled edge, a lining portion having its line of juncture with the outer portion located below the rolled edge and in the inner surface of the heel pocket, and a stiffening piece which extends upwardly above said line of juncture and into contact with the rolled edge of the outer portion.

4. A process of shoemaking which includes the steps of stitching the outer and lining portions oi. a heel pocket along their upper edges, turning said portions to form a rolled upper edge and 'locate the stitch line in the inner faceof the heel pocket, inserting a temporarily softened stiffening strip between said portions, and then molding the free margin of the portions into an integral inturned flange. v

- WILLIAM M. PAGE. 

